{"id":13415,"date":"2017-02-01T01:10:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T06:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=14081"},"modified":"2017-01-28T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T19:54:10","slug":"seeing-the-signs-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2017\/02\/01\/seeing-the-signs-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">divination with runes<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Runes are something in which I have just recently been gaining an interest. Recently \u2013 as in, the last six months. Before that time, I was busy with other forms of divination \u2013 mostly the Tarot \u2013 and number-based divinatory systems. Systems that basically worked together. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> When I first started learning about women\u2019s spirituality, wicca, witchcraft, and goddess religions in the late 1980\u2019s, I naturally read books about divination. I read everything I could! I received my first deck of Tarot cards in 1988 \u2013 as a gift from a friend \u2013 and took to the Tarot right away. Although I was interested in other forms of divination, I focused on the Tarot since I reasoned that it was better to become proficient in one skill than inept in several. And over the years, I think I have gotten pretty good at reading the Tarot, although I am far from professional. But I have become quite proficient.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> Since I have started writing \u201cSeeing the Signs\u201d, I have learned about many other forms of divination and widened my horizons considerably. Not only can I see many signs in many different ways, but I can use these signs to help me with reading the Tarot \u2013 my original love, so to speak \u2013 and to help me with reading <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>whatever <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">signs I happen upon. Systems <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>do <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">work together \u2013 often in ways that aren\u2019t obvious at first glance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> As a writer, I use the alphabet on daily. I quite honestly do not remember learning my ABC\u2019s. I know that I knew how to read before I started kindergarten (in 1965) and I already knew how to write my name. I had a great desire to learn how to write. I remember copying my mother\u2019s shopping lists (really!) and reading whatever it was that came my way \u2013 school books, the newspaper, magazines. My family was very musical and I learned how to play the piano at a young age \u2013 learning how to read music. My parents were lovers of opera and I used to read the librettos, comparing the German or Italian lyrics to their French and English translations. I was fascinated by how words changed from language to language and how the alphabet changed, too. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> I first heard about runes when I read the books of J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1970\u2019s. They were very popular. To those of you who are only familiar with the movies that came out starting in 2001, the books are <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>fantastic. <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">I used to own almost all of Tolkien\u2019s books. In the 1990\u2019s \u2013 going through a terrible depression and moving almost every six to nine months \u2013 I got rid of almost all of my books, including my entire Tolkien collection. Like so many things that I discarded through the years, I do regret letting those books go. But it\u2019s water under the bridge now. Recently I went to the library and got out <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><u>The Fellowship of the Ring<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> \u2013 as you can see, the book itself is decorated with runes!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-14082\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes1.jpg\" alt=\"Runes1\" width=\"484\" height=\"456\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> When I first heard of runes for divination, I have to admit, I really didn\u2019t take them seriously. I thought \u2013 well, why not use the Russian alphabet for divination? Or the notes on a musical stave? (Which isn\u2019t a half-bad idea, when you think about it). And when you consider all the silliness surrounding runes \u2013 the little book that came with the set I bought the other day says \u201cThe Gods\u2019 Magical Alphabet\u201d. Why are runes anymore magical than the Latin alphabet? Or the aforementioned Russian alphabet? Or Chinese or Japanese pictographs? Or hieroglyphics? Maybe I\u2019m just too skeptical and scientific but I personally think you can take any object and use it for divination \u2013 if you know what you\u2019re doing with it. Does anyone use the innards of animals for divination anymore? But once upon a time, that was common. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14083\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes2.jpg\" alt=\"Runes2\" width=\"410\" height=\"581\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> Our wonderful editor, Jennifer Sacasa-Wright, sent me a book called <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><u>Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">, by Alexandra Chauran. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Published by Llewellyn, it is a concisely-written, easy-to-read learner of everything the novice reader of Runes needs to know. There is no nonsense about \u201cThe God\u2019s Magical Alphabet\u201d. Although in the Introduction Chauran writes that \u201cNorse legend says that the god Odin himself first discovered runes,\u201d she follows this fanciful claim up with more solid scholarly fact, referencing the Etruscans and the various Nordic and Germanic tribes. She compares runes to the Hebrew alphabet, in that each letter has its own meaning, as well as being able to form meanings with other letters (This was probably true of the Latin alphabet as well, but we don\u2019t think of our letters in those magical ways anymore. Maybe we should). She also writes about <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>how <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">to use the book \u2013 to be prepared to memorize. She focuses on the Elder Futhark Runes in this book, although she does talk about other kinds. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> I have read this book through three times now. When I first got the book, I didn\u2019t even have a set of runes. I had been walking along the edge of the Merrimack River, collecting small stones to make my own set but I hadn\u2019t even picked up ten stones yet. So, I took some cardboard and cut out twenty-four circles and with a Sharpie, drew the letters of the Elder Futhark on each one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14084\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes3.jpg\" alt=\"Runes3\" width=\"602\" height=\"415\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14085\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes4.jpg\" alt=\"Runes4\" width=\"543\" height=\"407\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">While these homemade runes helped me to learn the basic concepts, I found myself shuffling the cardboard rounds like they were cards and I knew that really wasn\u2019t the way it was supposed to be. But I pulled one each day and did a meditation on it \u2013 as Chauran suggests on page 32 \u2013 and I am beginning to get the hang of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> Last Friday, there was work being done in my apartment building, so I decided to get out for the day. I took a bus out of Lowell and transferred to another bus in Lawrence, getting off in Andover, Massachusetts. Andover is a really nice little town. Massachusetts is \u2013 of course \u2013 filled with picturesque little towns but the reason I went to Andover was to visit a store called Circles of Wisdom (they have a Facebook page, check it out). As soon as I entered, I felt the positive energy. The owner, Cathy Kneeland, was very friendly and helpful. She said that runes were a big seller over the Yule holiday but she had one set left. Of course, I bought them! They were a tad over my budget but hey, that\u2019s life. And they\u2019re beautiful. They feel smooth and cool in my hand. Each one has their own weight. It\u2019s a subtle difference, but it\u2019s there. There\u2019s a nice suede bag in which to store them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14086\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes5.jpg\" alt=\"Runes5\" width=\"523\" height=\"392\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14087\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Runes6.jpg\" alt=\"Runes6\" width=\"516\" height=\"387\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t<!--\n\t\t@page { margin: 0.79in }\n\t\tP { margin-bottom: 0.08in }\n\t-->\n\t<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> I am still pulling out one of the bag and meditating on it each morning. I am also starting to pull two or three runes at a time and trying to tell a story with them \u2013 like you would when you are learning the Tarot. I am under <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>no <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">illusions on my ability to become proficient with this little stones \u2013 it\u2019s going to be <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>quite <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">a while before I can say with <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>any <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">kind of honesty that I know what I am doing with them! I deal with divination \u2013 not alternative facts!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> If you have runes and haven\u2019t yet read <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><u>Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">, by Alexandra Chauran, I highly recommend it. As a <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><i>total <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">novice with runes, I find it very informative and helpful in learning how to use this ancient alphabet in numerous ways \u2013 daily meditation, spell work, and personal empowerment. It is written with a scholarly and scientific attitude toward divination. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a> <span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"> And, for sure, if you are ever in the Greater Boston area, take a ride out to Andover \u2013 it\u2019s on the Haverhill Line if you want to take the Commuter Rail out of Boston \u2013 and check out Circles of Wisdom in person. It\u2019s a fine little store, jam-packed with all kinds of esoteric goodies. Until next month, Brightest Blessings!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">References<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">Chauran, Alexandra. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><u>Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\">. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>divination with runes &nbsp; Runes are something in which I have just recently been gaining an interest. Recently \u2013 as in, the last six months. Before that time, I was busy with other forms of divination \u2013 mostly the Tarot \u2013 and number-based divinatory systems. Systems that basically worked together. When I first started learning about women\u2019s spirituality, wicca, witchcraft, and goddess religions in the late 1980\u2019s, I naturally read books about divination. I read everything I could! I received my first deck of Tarot cards in 1988 \u2013 as a gift from a friend \u2013 and took to the Tarot right away. Although I was interested in other forms of divination, I focused on the Tarot since I reasoned that it was better to become proficient in one skill than inept in several. And over the years, I think I have gotten pretty good at reading the Tarot, although I am far from professional. But I have become quite proficient. Since I have started writing \u201cSeeing the Signs\u201d, I have learned about many other forms of divination and widened my horizons considerably. Not only can I see many signs in many different ways, but I can use these signs to help me with reading the Tarot \u2013 my original love, so to speak \u2013 and to help me with reading whatever signs I happen upon. Systems do work together \u2013 often in ways that aren\u2019t obvious at first glance. As a writer, I use the alphabet on daily. I quite honestly do not remember learning my ABC\u2019s. I know that I knew how to read before I started kindergarten (in 1965) and I already knew how to write my name. I had a great desire to learn how to write. I remember copying my mother\u2019s shopping lists (really!) and reading whatever it was that came my way \u2013 school books, the newspaper, magazines. My family was very musical and I learned how to play the piano at a young age \u2013 learning how to read music. My parents were lovers of opera and I used to read the librettos, comparing the German or Italian lyrics to their French and English translations. I was fascinated by how words changed from language to language and how the alphabet changed, too. I first heard about runes when I read the books of J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1970\u2019s. They were very popular. To those of you who are only familiar with the movies that came out starting in 2001, the books are fantastic. I used to own almost all of Tolkien\u2019s books. In the 1990\u2019s \u2013 going through a terrible depression and moving almost every six to nine months \u2013 I got rid of almost all of my books, including my entire Tolkien collection. Like so many things that I discarded through the years, I do regret letting those books go. But it\u2019s water under the bridge now. Recently I went to the library and got out The Fellowship of the Ring \u2013 as you can see, the book itself is decorated with runes! When I first heard of runes for divination, I have to admit, I really didn\u2019t take them seriously. I thought \u2013 well, why not use the Russian alphabet for divination? Or the notes on a musical stave? (Which isn\u2019t a half-bad idea, when you think about it). And when you consider all the silliness surrounding runes \u2013 the little book that came with the set I bought the other day says \u201cThe Gods\u2019 Magical Alphabet\u201d. Why are runes anymore magical than the Latin alphabet? Or the aforementioned Russian alphabet? Or Chinese or Japanese pictographs? Or hieroglyphics? Maybe I\u2019m just too skeptical and scientific but I personally think you can take any object and use it for divination \u2013 if you know what you\u2019re doing with it. Does anyone use the innards of animals for divination anymore? But once upon a time, that was common. \u00a0 Our wonderful editor, Jennifer Sacasa-Wright, sent me a book called Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation, by Alexandra Chauran. Published by Llewellyn, it is a concisely-written, easy-to-read learner of everything the novice reader of Runes needs to know. There is no nonsense about \u201cThe God\u2019s Magical Alphabet\u201d. Although in the Introduction Chauran writes that \u201cNorse legend says that the god Odin himself first discovered runes,\u201d she follows this fanciful claim up with more solid scholarly fact, referencing the Etruscans and the various Nordic and Germanic tribes. She compares runes to the Hebrew alphabet, in that each letter has its own meaning, as well as being able to form meanings with other letters (This was probably true of the Latin alphabet as well, but we don\u2019t think of our letters in those magical ways anymore. Maybe we should). She also writes about how to use the book \u2013 to be prepared to memorize. She focuses on the Elder Futhark Runes in this book, although she does talk about other kinds. I have read this book through three times now. When I first got the book, I didn\u2019t even have a set of runes. I had been walking along the edge of the Merrimack River, collecting small stones to make my own set but I hadn\u2019t even picked up ten stones yet. So, I took some cardboard and cut out twenty-four circles and with a Sharpie, drew the letters of the Elder Futhark on each one. While these homemade runes helped me to learn the basic concepts, I found myself shuffling the cardboard rounds like they were cards and I knew that really wasn\u2019t the way it was supposed to be. But I pulled one each day and did a meditation on it \u2013 as Chauran suggests on page 32 \u2013 and I am beginning to get the hang of them. Last Friday, there was work being done in my apartment building, so I decided to get out for the day. I took a bus out of Lowell and transferred to another bus in Lawrence, getting off in Andover, Massachusetts. Andover is a really nice little town. Massachusetts is \u2013 of course \u2013 filled with picturesque little towns but the reason I went to Andover was to visit a store called Circles of Wisdom (they have a Facebook page, check it out). As soon as I entered, I felt the positive energy. The owner, Cathy Kneeland, was very friendly and helpful. She said that runes were a big seller over the Yule holiday but she had one set left. Of course, I bought them! They were a tad over my budget but hey, that\u2019s life. And they\u2019re beautiful. They feel smooth and cool in my hand. Each one has their own weight. It\u2019s a subtle difference, but it\u2019s there. There\u2019s a nice suede bag in which to store them. I am still pulling out one of the bag and meditating on it each morning. I am also starting to pull two or three runes at a time and trying to tell a story with them \u2013 like you would when you are learning the Tarot. I am under no illusions on my ability to become proficient with this little stones \u2013 it\u2019s going to be quite a while before I can say with any kind of honesty that I know what I am doing with them! I deal with divination \u2013 not alternative facts! If you have runes and haven\u2019t yet read Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation, by Alexandra Chauran, I highly recommend it. As a total novice with runes, I find it very informative and helpful in learning how to use this ancient alphabet in numerous ways \u2013 daily meditation, spell work, and personal empowerment. It is written with a scholarly and scientific attitude toward divination. And, for sure, if you are ever in the Greater Boston area, take a ride out to Andover \u2013 it\u2019s on the Haverhill Line if you want to take the Commuter Rail out of Boston \u2013 and check out Circles of Wisdom in person. It\u2019s a fine little store, jam-packed with all kinds of esoteric goodies. Until next month, Brightest Blessings! References Chauran, Alexandra. Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13415"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15076,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13415\/revisions\/15076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}